Customs has proposed to lower the threshold of duty-free purchases in online stores

Federal customs service (FCS) sent to the Ministry proposals on decrease in norms of duty-free import of goods in the sphere of Internet trade, said the head of Department Andrey Belyaninov. “I think we are not yet seriously progressed in terms of administration. It all depends, of course, from those rules that exists. They, in my opinion, very liberal, and the world practice tells quite a different story”, — he said (quoted by “Interfax”).

Belyaninov pointed to the fact that colleagues of Russia on the Eurasian economic Union — in particular in Belarus — similar to established European standards at €22, which can be imported duty-free goods. Moreover, the FCS value of it is not called.

According to the head of Department, the administration may allow to restore order in the conditions of exponential expansion of Internet Commerce. Currently, she remains without adequate state supervision both from the point of view of customs fee and tax payments, he added.

Currently in Russia are not duty-free parcels with a total value of up to €1000 and weighing up to 21 kg in one calendar month. When exceeding the limit fee is €30, but not less than €4 per 1 kg, specifies the newspaper “Vedomosti”. In 2015, the Eurasian economic Commission (ECC) considered several options to reduce the duty-free threshold value, in particular up to €150 and up to 10 kg and a fixed fee of €25 for the cheaper packages. Also considered options for the collection of €10-15 with packages which cost from €22 up to €150, to introduce a fixed payment depending on the purchase price.

At the end of November 2015 Deputy head of Federal customs service Tatiana Galendeev proposed to impose a fee in the amount of €10-15 Internet parcels from abroad cost from €22 up to €150. RBC then wrote that while Russia seeks to unify proposals for the introduction went on overseas purchases citizens in the framework of the Eurasian economic Union (EEU). However, as underlined by Galendeev, if the discussion is “run into a wall and there is no compromise, Russia will probably decide on the introduction of fees at the national level”.

The source in the EEC and the Federal official told “Vedomosti” that since the proposals of the FCS has not changed. The representative of the FCS did not answer the questions of publication, to comments in the Ministry of Finance failed.